Predictive Accuracy Tests for Prediction of Economic Growth Based on Broadband Infrastructure

This chapter investigates whether predictions of future economic growth can be improved by using standard measures of broadband infrastructure. The investigation is carried out by comparing the predictive accuracy of dynamic panel models of economic growth estimated with and without measures of broadband infrastructure. The more powerful versions of the Diebold–Mariano–West (DMW) and Morgan–Granger–Newbold (MGN) test are employed for predictive accuracy comparison. It is evident that measures of broadband infrastructure can improve predictions of GDP growth after controlling for standard growth determinants.